The siege of Sarajevo revealed the vital importance of war reporting

News organisations drew worldwide attention to the siege and the war in Bosnia, which likely contributed to ending a conflict most world leaders would have preferred to ignore, writes Borzou Daragahi

At least 19 journalists were killed in the conflict, including Italians, Americans, a Briton, a German, a Turk and an Iranian as well as numerous Bosnians (Alamy Stock Photo)

They were seasoned, roving correspondents and veterans of prior wars backed by major news organisations. They were struggling young freelance journalists drawn by a dramatic and heartbreaking story. They risked their lives getting into the besieged city, and then, once in town, took further chances dodging snipers and mortars. A few were killed, more were injured. All were marked by the siege of Sarajevo, which began 30 years ago this year.

The work, lives and impact of the journalists who covered the Bosnian capital during those benighted years is chronicled and commemorated in Live From Sarajevo: How Foreign Journalists Covered the Siege, an exhibition of photos, videos and found objects now showing at the Historical Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

“We wanted to present the voice of the internationals who were covering the war,” curator Elma Hodzic tells me during a tour of the exhibit. “These are the stories of the eyewitnesses.”